Nightmares and Games
by Stephaniewhovian
Summary: Rose has been having nightmares. The events of bloodlines did not happen.


Rose's POV

I slipped my arm around Dimitri, then lightly curled my fingers around his. He turned his attention away from the t.v. we were watching and glanced down at me, a smile appearing on his face. He leaned down and lightly placed a kiss on my forehead, then placed another one on my nose before pressing his lips to mine. His free hand, the one that wasn't locked with mine, came up to cup the side of my face. He pulled back slowly and looked me in the eyes.

"Roza?" Dimitri murmured gently.

"Hmm?" I questioned, scooting closer, so that we were sitting thigh to thigh on the couch. "Is something wrong?"

Leaning down again, he brought his face to my neck, and lightly nuzzled the spot of skin between my shoulder and collar bone with his nose. "Nothing's wrong, Roza. I just love to hear your voice when your like this. So full of joy, and love and hope. Hearing you like this makes taking it all away one hundred times better."

Faster then I thought possible, my eyes flicked up to his and were met with red orbs. Further inspection showed that his skin was an ugly shade of white, and his hand in mine was suddenly freezing. The sweet, caring smile that had coated his face only seconds earlier was now replaced with a leer that sent a chill through me.

I felt myself jump up, reach for the stake I kept with me at all times. What I didn't feel was me run it through him. All I could do was stand there, stunned, internally screaming at myself to kill him, to stake him through the heart and run. Run to Lissa and make sure she was safe.

As if he could read my mind he let out a laugh. "Are you worried about Lissa? You should be. I doubt she's even alive anymore... Or well your idea of alive. To me... To us, she's just been born. She's probably never felt more alive then she does now."

I blinked, and suddenly he was standing in front of me. He took a loose strand of my hair and absently tucked it behind my ear. "She's probably off feeding by now, enjoying the high you get from taking the life of an innocent person."

I automatically shook my head and took a step back. "N-no. Lissa wouldn't...even if she was turned she'd control herself, she'd-"

"Roza, you don't understand. Once the urge has took seize, nothing can stop you from drinking blood." He pulled me to him roughly, wrapping his arms around me. "It's so wonderful. Everything is better. Your sight, your smell, your hearing. Sure you can only come out at night, but everything is so bright and extreme, you can barely tell the difference."

I knew where this was going, what he was gonna say next, and I began squirming, trying to break free from him. "Dimitri I don't-"

He placed two fingers on the pulse of my throat and I jerked my head back hard. "Shhh, Roza. It will only take a moment, then you'll thank me for eternity."

In that moment the full weight of what was happening hit me. I opened my mouth to scream and... I was wrapped in Dimitri's arms again, only this time they held the heat a living persons body possessed. It was dark, and we were laying in our bed. The tiny alarm clock I kept on the dresser read 4:34 pm, which considering were on Moroi hours, is equivalent to 4:34 in the morning.

The blankets had worked there way down to the foot of the bed, and it was obvious someone had been thrashing around. My eyes shot up to meat Dimitri's which were their respectable dark chocolate brown. My heart was beating so loudly I could hear it over Dimitri's soothing noises.

"Roza, my love, it alright. I'm here. Your fine." He pulled me against him so that I was gently pressed against his bare chest. "It was just a nightmare. Your okay now. Nothing's going to hurt you."

I tried to even my breathing, and after several deep breathes managed to get out, "Lissa. I want to see Lissa."

He got out of bed quickly. "Just let me go grab the phone and-"

I sat up. "No! I want to go see her. I need to see that's she's okay."

He sat back down on the bed and took my hand in his. "Roza, she's fine. She's the queen. Lissa's probably the safest Moroi on the planet."

I scoffed and jerked my hand away. "They said the same thing about Tatiana, and look at how that turned out!"

He let out a sigh. "Rose, if we go over there will be the fourth time this week you've went to Lissa's in the middle of the night." He cupped a hand around the back of his neck then raked the other through the hair that laid loosely on his shoulders. "Can't you just tell me what's wrong? Maybe I can help."

There was a sort of bare look of pain in his eyes at the fact that I was keeping this from him. "Dimitri... Just take me to Lissa's. Please." He looked me dead in the eyes then nodded in defeat. He new not to press this. Some things were just to hard, even for the great Rose Hathaway.

We changed into clothes quickly then made our way over to the palace. They had put us as close as possible, but even then it was still a good 5 minute walk. Dimitri held my hand in his and I pressed tightly to his side. Normally we didn't show such intimate displays of affection out in public, for many reasons, but on nights like these, we both seemed to let our guard down.

The guards stationed to watch Lissa let us in without comment. I made my way back to Lissa and Christian's bedroom and knocked lightly. There were two Guardians outside their bedroom door who nodded at me politely then left quietly down the hallway.

Lissa appeared at the door moments later. "Rose," she let out a yawn and quickly scanned for anyone else out in the hallway. She shut the bedroom door lightly, so that Christian wouldn't over hear us. "Did you... Have a bad dream again?"

I filled her in on the details of what happened as fast as I could. I didn't want to keep her up, but I also didn't want to keep the bloody details of my nightmares to myself. And I sure as hell couldn't tell Dimitri.

"It's getting worse Liss. He's not just trying to change me anymore. He keeps talking about you being turned and how great it feels to drink for the kill..." I learned against the wall and slowly made my way down until I was sitting on the floor, my knees presses to my chest. She sank down beside me and lightly draped her arm over my shoulder.

We sat like that for a while. After several minutes my breathe grew shaky and I felt myself tear up. "Lissa if I lost him again..."

"Rose you can't loose him again. It's impossible for him to become Strigio anymore, remember?" Her words were meant to be soothing but they just upset me further.

"But you can. What if I screw up and-"

She tucked a price of my tangly hair behind my ear. "You won't mess up. I trust you and that should be enough for you to trust yourself."

"Yeah but... These nightmares... They seem so real, you know?"

"Maybe you should try talking to him about it. I know it's been upsetting him, not knowing what's wrong with you." She took a breathe. "Christian told me the other day that Dimitri's been making little comments about how your keeping things. Maybe talking to him will allow you to subconsciously realize that these nightmares are just that, nightmares."

My head was reeling. I agreed with Lissa. Maybe if I brought this issue up with Dimitri, it would help me understand and see that he was him and not a Strigio. But even if it would make my life easier, I'm afraid of the impact it could have on Dimitri. It had been less then a year since he'd been changed back, and telling him I was having nightmares about him turning again would upset him. He'd more then likely distance himself from me, and that wasn't something I couldn't stand to have happen.

"I'll... I'll think about it."

Lissa unwrapped her arm from around me and stood back up. She held her hand out and helped me to my feet then gave me a hug.

"You'll be fine Rose." Her voice didn't waver, and I was reminded that she wasn't just my best friend, but also the queen of all Moroi, "Just remember that Dimitri's been through a lot and he's tough. If you do decide to tell him, he'll be able to take it."

Not long after that Lissa and I said our good byes, and she went back to bed. I made my way back out to where I'd left Dimitri. He stood still, and wore an emotionless face until he saw me. He gave me a half smile as I rounded the corner and I returned it.

"See Roza? Every thing is fine. Lissa couldn't be more safe then she is right now." His tone wasn't 'I told you so'. It was caring. He took my hand and held it in his tightly. "So, do you want to go back to bed?" He raised an eyebrow, "Or would you rather go get something to eat? We can grab a pizza."

Sleep sounded fantastic, but I was Rose Hathaway, and I've never turned down food. No way was I gonna start now.

"Comrade," I said, which brought a smile to his face, "Why did you even ask? You should know that, after almost a year of living with me, I would choose the pizza."

"Of course I knew. I just thought I'd give you an option. Spice things up a little." His words were airy and somewhat playful, but I could tell I still held his full attention. Just like I couldn't fool him, he couldn't fool me. He would worry about me until I told him what was happening. Sure, he wouldn't pressure me to say anything, but he'd find casual ways to sneak it out of me. It was something I hated and admired about him.

"Can we get the pizza to go though?Tomorrow, well today actually since it's already 5 In the morning, is our only day off for the next week and a half." I started rubbing my thumb in circles on the back of his hand. "I thought we could go back to sleep after we ate and start this day over... The right way."

"I'd like that, Roza." I wasn't looking directly at him, but I could tell he was smiling from the tone of his voice. "We haven't had a day just to our selves in a while."

I learned my my head on his shoulder as we walked. "It's a date then."

A/N- Thanks for reading! This is my first fic and I hope you liked it. If I get a review or two I'll add another chapter pretty soon. I plan on it being a long fic and it'll probably be a mixture of humor and drama. Again, thanks for reading!


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